Of love and Bullets
by Jd Wheels
Summary: The organization starts to bring down terrorists, but they find a dark side to who they are fighting. Can Henrietta and the rest of them bring down these men before more lives are crushed?
1. Chapter 1

**Of love and bullets**

**A Gunslinger Girl Fan-fic**

The dormitories were silent in the early hours of morning. Every one was sound asleep, not a sound was heard anywhere in the dorms. The air even was very still, adding to the haunting feeling.

The tall figure of Jose came on to the floor, moving through the darkness of the hallways. He was grim faced as he went, his eyes never once searching the gloom around him as he made his way, passing door upon door on his way.

He finally stopped at a door about half the way down the long hall. Reaching out, he turned the nob, opening the portal silently. He entered the room with a silent trod. He knew to be perfectly stealthy around here.

He looked at two figures that slept in the beds, they were unaware of him even being there. Rico slept in her bed, her face rolled towards the wall. He turned to the other bed in the room, his charge's sleeping place.

Henrietta was in her bed, curled up under the blankets, her soft breathing noting that she was sound asleep right then. He watched the brown haired girl sleep for a moment, a small smile flowed over his face almost in a loving way.

He knelt down on his haunches and touched a hand to the young ones arm, careful of any unnecessary movements, thinking she might be sleeping with her pistol under the pillow. With Fratellos, that was always a possibility he had to remind himself of every time.

" Henrietta." He whispered in a very soothing tone.

The young girl opened her eyes at the sound of his voice. She saw it was Jose who was softly awakening her.

" Oh!" She said sleepily, snapping up to be sitting.

The girl swung herself out of the bed and up to her feet, going to a standing attention posture immediately. Jose blushed at what he was seeing. The young girl had only a pink pyjama top on, her lower half was exposed and she worn not even a pair of panties.

" I did not know you slept like that." He said with a start, not really knowing what to say.

The girl blushed and put her hands in front of her girlhood, obviously having forgotten that she had gone to bed like that. She kept blushing, but did not move a muscle to try and cover up any more than what she was.

" It was hot when I went to bed last night." Was her only answer, as she stammered with awkwardness.

" It was rather hot last night..." Said Jose, nodding.

He nodded, and just passed the incident off, as he understood the young girl was feeling rather embarrassed over it all.

" We have a mission to do, Henrietta." He said, a little more authoritative. " I need to ready yourself... we leave with Hilshire and Triela after breakfast."

" Yes!" Said the girl, nodding her head. " Where do you want me to meet you, Jose-san?"

" Meet me in the dining room in a half a hour." He said, moving to the door. " We eat, talk about the mission and then load up."

" Yes!" said the young girl again as she kept her hands down in covering herself.

Jose stopped for a moment, and looked at his charge one more time. He smiled warmly at the small girl, before opening the door and exiting the room as silently as he had entered it minutes ago.

Henrietta hurried to dress, knowing her work was now upon her. She picked her usual outfit from her meager clothes and began to dress herself, still blushing a little from her little embarrassment.

Rico had woken up and was looking over at the girl, squinting through the darkness through half closed eyes.

" Is it ... time to get up?" She asked.

" No..." Henrietta said, still dressing. " Jose had came in and said there was a mission to go on."

" Just you and him?" She asked, seemingly very interested.

The brown haired girl turned and shook her head at her roommate.

" Hilshire and Triela are with us." She replied, a happy tone in her voice. " I think we need backup."

" Do you know the details?" The girl in the bed asked.

" No, I don't... just that we are being sent somewhere." Henrietta said. " I meet Jose-san soon."

Rico just turned over in her bed, facing herself to the wall once again and pulling the blankets up to her ears.

" I am going back to sleep then." She said, adding through a long yawn. " I wish Jean-san and I were on this one."

Henrietta just turned to look at her fellow girl.

" Maybe you will get your own mission today from Jean-san." Said the girl, finishing dressing and getting her violin case that housed her Fn-P90 from under the bed.

" If we don't... guess I can always do my laundry." Rico said, through a small yawn.

" Yeah." Nodded the brown haired girl, turning back to her weapons.

Henrietta gathered up her other weapon from her storage place and headed to the door. She could hear Rico's soft snoring as she left. She giggled a little, as her friend had fallen fast asleep in a matter of moments.

She closed the door as quietly as she could have and hurried to meet up with Jose.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two- Orders and aftermath**

The dining room was virtually empty for the most part when Henrietta entered. She saw Jose and Hilshire sitting with one of the Division 2 head men. They all seemed to be going over maps and other papers very intently, not even noticing the young girl had even arrived in the room.

Henrietta was just going to make her way over to the table when Triela joined her in the doorway. The two looked at one another, and seemed to just regard one another silently for a second.

" Hilshire-san said this mission was big." Said the blond girl, setting her pistol in the holster on her hip

" I don't know anything about the mission yet, Triela." The brown haired girl said, looking at the girl.

" And we won't if we don't go over and Hilshire-san and Jose." Said Triela, already walking toward where the three man sat. " Come on... don't be slow."

Henrietta nodded and followed the taller girl, carrying her violin case with surprising ease. Triela did not wait for the younger Fratello, but kept going.

Jose spotted his charge and Triela approaching their table. He looked at his watch on his wrist, then back up at the two.

" The both of you are on time I see..." Said the man.

" Did you load up with Ammo and things already?" Hilshire asked, breaking in.

" Yes!" Stated the blonde girl with authority, shifting to being at attention.

Henrietta looked at her handler, and nodded too, voicelessly telling Jose she was all packed and ready to go.

" Excellent." Jose said, pleased. " Both of you grab some breakfast and then we are on our way."

Both girls bowed their heads as one, and turned to get their meal as ordered to. Hilshire looked at his counterpart next to him.

" Should we tell them that this is only phase one for this mission?" He inquired.

" I think they don't need to know yet." Answered Jose.

The Section 2 man that was with the two handlers looked at the both of them.

" Gentlemen.." He said, getting their attention. " The terrorists we are after are dangerous, and probably involved with many factions unsavory to our government. We need to go in and get as much information as we can on how they are funding their attacks across Italy, then we can implement phase two." He leaned on the table, to firmly face the handlers. " Keep a firm grip on your Fratellos on this part of the operation... at all costs. Remember... Keep the killing down to an 'as needed' basis."

" Yes, sir." Said both men in unison.

The Section 2 man stood and left without another word. Jose and Hilshire looked at on another, as they waited for their charges to return.

Hilshire looked at Jose, after the man had left the room.

" We will have to make sure that some of these people are left alive, to give us some of this information the higher ups want."

" I have confidence in Henrietta, that she can."

" Things can go wrong with storming the place like this." Pointed out Hilshire. " Triela sometimes goes a little too far..."

" Any of them can... we just have to trust them with the assignments we give them, and rely on how we have conditioned them." Jose said wisely, then looked straight into the man's face."

Hilshire looked over at his charge, who was coming with Henrietta with their morning meals. He nodded and sighed.

" I hate operations like this." He said with a long look up to the ceiling. " Can they work like this... using tact?"

" We just have to see, and believe that they can." Jose said. " We should leave within the hour."

The other man nodded, as the two girl's joined them.

A older styled villa sits on the side of a hill in the rays of early morning, just on the outskirts of Rome. From the weathered wood of the siding to the a-frame shape, it looked like any other Villa that doted the countryside. The structure looked inviting and homey, except for the fact that two men stood beside either side of the door with automatic weapons cradled in their arms.

The men were scanning the land around the Villa itself, their eyes never stopping for a moment. All they saw was bush and shrubs as far as they could see, lit by the early morning sun.

Hidden within some trees, about two hundred yards away, four figures were behind a few boulders that stuck out from the rich dark earth.

Jose looked at the Villa through binoculars, keeping low behind the largest boulder for maximum cover. Henrietta crouched behind him, her large caliber rifle nestled against her small body as she watched her Instructor watching the house.

The man lowered the spy glasses and turned to the small girl.

" There is two guards at the door, and I saw three patrolling the back entrance earlier." He said. " I think we need to take them out, and assault the place from both sides."

" That sounds reasonable." Hilshire agreed, as Triela crouched next to him. " Who will take the back?"

Jose looked over to the man, and thought for a second.

" Henrietta should hit the front way." He said, after analyzing the situation. " Triela should take the back way."

Hilshire nodded and looked at the two girls, and nodded. They both acknowledged them, and quickly were off. The two men just fitted their ear pieces on and looked at one another.

" Commencing in one minute." Jose said.

" Copy." Said the voice of little Henrietta over his earpiece.

The two guards at the door were walking around the front area of the villa. The looked at one another.

" Quiet one, eh?" Said the larger one, who's shaved head glistened with sweat from the building heat of the morning.

" Yeah." Said the shaggy haired man back, as he clutched his weapon in his had absently.

Suddenly, a shot rang out of nowhere. The bald headed man's head suddenly exploded, and blood poured out of a hole in his skull. Limply, the man collapsed to the wood patio and was still. The other man turned, his rifle readied.

A small brown haired girl stood only a few feet from him, a large weapon bared on to him. Before the man could react with his weapon, he had three gunshots straight to the chest. He staggered, as blood painted his white shirt in record amounts, his eyes wide with disbelief. The girl squeezed the trigger again, and the man had a hole in the center of his forehead. The man just fell lifeless beside his guard buddy, blood pooling on the weathered boards of the patio.

Disregarding the now dead two, she raced to the door and kicked at the wood face with a grunt The door gave way with a groaning crack as it fell into the villa. Henrietta steadied her weapon, and went inside.

Two men with large handguns were standing there in the entrance way, their weapons trained on the doorway. The young girl that barreled through the door, and had her weapon firing as she ran.

Both men fell in a shower of blood and bullets, their own futile shots missing the small target completely. Wildly, the men's blood now painting wild patterns on the nearby walls and furniture as the fell. With a look of intensity, the small lass watched the bodies for any signs of life.

Henrietta's hearing picked up running footsteps from just off to her right as she went deeper into the structure. With a smooth pivot on the balls of her feet, she whirled around to face whoever it was.

A single man, dressed smartly in an Armani suit blazed away with a Mouser right at the girl. The bullets whizzed past the girl, barely missing her by centimeters. She fell to one knee, and she returned the fire with a rifle burst of her own with a calm collectiveness.

As the man fell lifeless to the floor in a pool of his own gore, the girl had already smoothly ejected her empty magazine, and put a fresh clip of ammo in as she noted gunfire coming from the back of the house. She ignored it and began to race off again.

The small girl headed down the hallway that the last man had came down, ever watchful of anyone that might jump out of the different doorways that lined either side. Methodically, Henrietta kicked each door in and checked each room with stealthy precision honed by hours of training.

Coming to the last last door in the hall, she stood puffing hard. With a surgical kick by the small form, she opened the door and she leapt into the room at the ready.

A fat balding man was in the room alone, cowered like a scared rabbit in a corner. His eyes glazed over with fright as he saw the young girl with the rifle. He dropped the pistol he had in his hand as the girl leveled her weapon straight at him.

" Please... I give up... I GIVE UP!" He said, holding his chubby, ring filled hands up in the air as he slid down the wall to his knees.

Keeping her weapon trained on the whimpering hulk of a man in front of her, she spoke to the microphone on her blouse front.

" One alive here... he give up..." She said, eyes never leaving the fat man. " As ordered."

" Hold that one there, we will have our body and recovery teams in there in moments." Said the voice of Jose in her ear. " We are coming in!"

" Ok." She said, puffing hard for the action.

Triela came in to the room, her weapon was still smoking badly from all of the use. The leather clad girl moved to be beside the smaller lass, her weapon joining Henrietta's in covering the fat man.

" All clear?" She asked, looking over at the young girl.

" Clear." She said back.

" All clear back there too." Was the only thing the blonde girl said.

Among the men that were now running in to the room, Jose and Hilshire came in with them all. As the other men took the now blubbering fat man into custody, they looked at the two girls.

" The operation was a success!" Jose said, letting himself give a smirk to the young girl.

" Yes... It was." Said Henrietta, with a small smile as she saw Jose looking right at her.

The two girls lowered their weapons and went to their respective handlers. Silently, the four turned and left the carnage strewn Villa to the aftermath crew.

Jose looked down to the young girl that walked right beside him as they headed down the hill.

"Let's go back to the corporation." He said. " They can clear this up on their own... our job is done."

" Yes!" was the only thing the girl said in answer, her small hands still clutching her weapon tightly.

The four left the villa, their work now done.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three - Revulsion**

Evening time flowed over the organization compound. The heat of the day was not letting up, and the humidity was making the air hot and sticky for anyone that came into it's heated embrace.

Hilshire and Jose were summoned to a meeting of the heads of Section 2. Being it was evening, they both knew that this must be of utmost importance for such a meeting to be convened so quickly.

The two went into the meeting room together, both unsure of just what was going on. They thought it would be about Phase two, but that was pre-planed before today's operation had even commenced.

The head of Section 2 looked at the handlers, a grim look was held on his squared face.

" Before we begin with why you are called here..." He started. " I have to commend you both on how your Fratellos did today... they were perfect in every way."

The men acknowledged the complement that was given to them with a bow, but they knew that the other shoe was going to be dropped at any second. The man motioned for them both to sit down, another sign that this meeting was not going to be normal.

The head man seemed to be actually quite hesitant to start, as he looked at the two handlers.

" Thanks to you, we have the information on how the Republicans are funding their terrorist activities.." He said, actually seemingly drawing out the last few words. " What we found from a few computers confiscated, along with Maxwell Gandini, the man captured this morning, is alarming and also disturbing in every way."

Jose and Hilshire looked at the man, waiting on whatever this news was. Jose saw the look in the head's eyes, and saw something he had never seen there before.

" Is it.. That bad?" He questioned, seeing the man' face becoming more pained in nature.

The head man looked up and took a long breath in, as if setting himself.

" Aside from funding their activities through drugs and gambling, they have set up a money maker, that is the most heinous thing you could imagine." He said, sliding a file folder across the table to both men. " This shows what I am talking about, but I warn you it is not pretty."

Jose took the lead, taking the folder and opened it after a few moments What he saw held in the folder, nearly made him physically ill.

The folder had many photographs of young girls, some looking like they were barely out of the first grade, naked and in sexually deviant positions with hooded adult men. Each was in a depraved and lecherous pose, which most women would have found to be degrading and humiliating to them, and would never do in the first place.

Jose took a hard swallow, and looked up at the head man, as Hilshire looked at the folder with a very disgusted frown.

" What the fuck?" Jose spat, feeling his stomach churn with the thought. "Terrorists making kiddie porn? That is not the way of political change."

" By the information from our captive.. It is a fringe element of the Republicans, who do this to make money fast, and still keep the facade for their political line." Said the head man. " The leaders put up with it, because their cause is in need of some serious cash influx. Their political needs make it needed, so they 'turn a blind eye', so to speak."

The head leaned on the desk, seemingly like he was going to pass out or something. He looked at the two handlers.

" Not only are they making their own child pornography, but they are trafficking in children for the sex trade." He said, his voice tight and his eyes wild. " The captured man said they snatch children from all over Italy, Spain and other European countries, to be sold in other countries for being prostitutes."

Jose could not believe what he was being told. He felt anger swelling from deep in himself, as the thought of girls like Henrietta being sold and used like that was repugnant to him. He lowered his head, trying to keep his exploding emotions get the best of him.

" How do we proceed now, Sir?" He asked. " Do we get the local police or Interpol involved?"

The man shook his head.

" Higher ups want a more direct approach... Take out many of the republican nests that house this deviant operation, free these girls and kill anyone who is there." He said flatly. "It is the first time that governmental panel have all agreed at once on a course of action since the bombing of that school a few years ago."

Hilshire put down the file and looked at the head person with a look of absolute horror.

" Does this mean Phase two will be implemented with these new edicts attached to these Method of Operations?"

" More than that... Section 2 command panel will convene tomorrow to map out a plan of action." He said. " We may let our Fratellos have the last say on what will happen to these useless pieces of garbage." The man paused . " That will become our new Phase two."

The head man dismissed them with a wave of his hand, but parted with a single suggestion.

" Train your Fratellos well in the mean time... we will be in touch in the next few days." He said. " I pray that they are sharp, and the sword of decency cuts deep when they go out there."

The two handlers left the room, both still disturbed by the information that was released to them. Neither one spoke, opting just to leave as quickly as they could.

The dorms were still alive with the girls, as their bedtimes were not strictly being enforced. Each pairing was in their own rooms, doing what they did almost each and every day.

In each room, the girls were servicing and cleaning their weapons with exceptional care, as other girls would be primping and preening carefully on their dolls.

Henrietta was just finishing up on her rifle, using a shammy to shine the outer housing with great attention and love. Rico was doing her pistol, putting it back together after cleaning out all of the inner workings.

The very short haired girl looked over at Henrietta, as she put the gun back together without even really thinking about it.

" You said the operation had gone good." She asked.

Henrietta looked over at her roommate, putting the rifle back in it's camouflaged case with loving care.

" It did." She said back. " Jose-san said that it went excellent."

" I just did laundry." Snuffed Rico, finishing her reassembling job. " Jean-san said we will be going out to the firing range tomorrow." She smiled with the thought. " Do you think you will be on range too?"

Henrietta turned and looked at her friend. She knew what the girl had asked, but she had no idea just what to reply with.

" He did not say.." Began the girl, her voice trailing off suddenly.

" What is it?" Asked Rico, noticing the odd way the girl had stopped talking to her.

" I just have a feeling..." She said slowly. " That's all."

" Feeling?" Rico asked. " What type of feeling?"

" Don't know." Was all the girl could answer. " I am not too sure of what it is..."

" Your strange sometimes." Rico commented with a snuffing sound, standing up from her seat on the bed.

" I think I am strange right now." Commented the little brown haired girl, not understanding just what it was she was feeling.

Rico shook her head, as she looked at Henrietta.

I am not really sure of you." The girl said.

Without another word, she left the room, not really understanding the young girl. She turned into the hall and was gone.

Henrietta just sighed and continued to lavish attention on to her pistol now. She was not even sure of what it was either. Something deep in her was trying to tell her something, but the question was for her... what was that?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four - Just not quite right**.

Morning was brightly dawned over the organization compound. Sounds of automatic gunfire broke and echoed off, breaking the stillness. That noise was a signal that the day's training was underway earlier than usual.

The firing range was hopping with activity. Rico, Henrietta and Triela were on the range while their handlers watched them intently from a ways off. Each handler was very intent on the targets far down the course, as the girls methodically went through every drill with a great amount of reverence.

Finally out of ammo, Henrietta lowered her rifle and looked down range, discarding her spent magazine in a fluid motion in a bucket for reloading. Jose walked up to his small charge and looked at the wee one, noting the heavy sheen of sweat collected on her small brow and cheeks.

" That is exactly what was asked of you." He said, seemingly trying to curb his enthusiasm with the results. " You have a score of 100 out of 100."

Henrietta give a small smile, letting herself feel the praise that was coming through the man's tone. She bowed and turned back to the range..

" Thank you, Jose-san." She said. " Shall I do more?"

" Lets just go through some..." He said, then stopping and turning his head, as something broke his thoughts.

A group of men suddenly appeared on range. The were all in dark suits and looked very stiff and official. Everyone on the range looked over at the group, all wondering who these six men were.

" Jose, Hilshire, Jean... dismiss your Fratellos for the day. " Said the man who was in front of the rest of the group. He looked at each of the three handlers that were there " Come to the meeting room immediately, await our arrival."

The black suited group turned as one, and walked off without uttering another word. Henrietta looked up at Jose with a questioning glance.

" Are they... men from Command Central?" She asked, noting the dark attire the group had worn.

" They are, Henrietta." He replied calmly. " I have to meet with them now, as they have ordered... Go back to your room, and wait for me."

Obediently, the small girl bowed and quickly gathered up her things and headed off with Rico and Triela who had already packed up. The three handlers gathered together and walked off toward where the main building of the compound was. Neither of the three looked back at their charges.

Triela watched her handler leaving, as she walked in the opposite direction with the other girls.

" Something is definitely going on." She commented, holding her rifle close to her chest.

" Another mission?" Asked Rico, almost excitedly.

" Maybe..." Triela said, then adding. " Hilshire-san will tell me if it is."

" I hope so..." Said Rico, not elaborating any on her statement.

Henrietta just followed the others, her gaze still on her Handler too, as she watched him walk off with the others. She sighed, as that same odd feeling of something going on, had returned in her mind. She shook her head, stopping her suspicions cold, knowing that they were not really allowed. It was just emotions, she warned herself. She knew the drill for dismissing emotions all too well.

The short lass just turned back and silently followed the other girls back to their dormitories.

The three handlers congregated in to the meeting room, as they were ordered to. No one had spoken a word since leaving the range, but there was a air of tension that seemed to blanket everyone.

Hilshire was the first one to speak up.

" You think this is the Panel's decision time?" He asked. " You think they have something to implement?"

" They did say that they were convening a meeting just for that." Jose said, leaning back in the chair. " I suspect it is something to do with the case at hand, and it was a very quick decision."

Jean leaned forward, looking at his fellow handlers. He seemed to be different, his posture was stiff and his face showed more emotion than he usual did.

" I saw those pictures in the report." He said, pausing after he had said it. " This is one mission I'd just let Rico run loose on these bastards."

" Yeah..." Said Hilshire, looking at Jean. " Just let Triela go berserk would be lovely to see with these sick pricks."

Jose looked at his fellow handlers and nodded. He agreed with the statements that were being thrown around, noting that he too would love to see carnage like that be exacted with the people in this sick situation.

He looked at his brother and grunted.

" I think they might be planning a more 'controlled' berserk response." He thought out loud. " If they have the right intelligence to build such a plan, I can see Command ordering that."

" To me... they might do something else..." Jean piped in, his voice soundly oddly low. " I hate to even think of it..."

The other two handlers looked over at the man, seemingly very puzzled at just what the man was thinking.

" Like what?" Asked Jose.

" Undercover work maybe..." He speculated. " A decoy maybe too..."

" With one of us?" Jose questioned. " That might..."

" One of the Fratellos as sort of 'bait' for these peddlers." He suggested, cutting off his brother's train of thought.

With a chill like icy fingers scraping down his spine, Jose knew his brother might be right. The thought of putting Henrietta in that position of being captured, even for a second by these sick people, made his stomach knot.

" I don't like that..." He said, shaking his head with the emotions that the idea brought up. " Even though they are just carbon, artificial muscles and artificial skin... they are girls too... I have seen that anatomically, they are girls." He thought back to accidently finding that out the other day.

" Despite how I have to condition Rico like I have to... do you think I want my suspicion to be right." Jean said, looking right into his brother's face. " We just might have to face that fact, if the panel has come to that conclusion, we might have to do it."

" They are just mainly machines to a point...right..." Hilshire said, then his voice dropped off.

With a very sharp glint in his eye, Jose looked at the man.

" Does that make it feel better?" Jose asked with a disgusted tone. " Does that make it feel more right to you?"

Triela's handler looked at Jose, his face was void of any emotionality, but not out of coldness. He sighed and shook his head.

" No." Was his reply. " If so, then what?"

" I don't know." Jose admitted.

All three men went silent, as the thought of that option flashed through their collective heads. It was a horrible thought to even consider, but it was one that could be on their command's radar.

Each man drifted into his own mind and thoughts, awaiting the arrival of the head of their section, hoping that they had other options to go over, other than putting their charges through this. Each one could not ignore the fact, they were going to have to do something they might not agree with.

What ever it was, they wanted these people to come in already, so they can find a way to do whatever was to be ordered.

Henrietta stood silent, looking out of her room's window at the greenery that sprawled below. She could hear the water running in the bathroom off of the room, Rico was in showering again, as was her little quirky way.

She understood the girl's wanting to shower today, even Fratellos were made to be able to sweat like anyone else. It was the most efficient way of cooling someone off. Because of the heat that even the morning had brought them, she hoped she could take one too.

She turned away from the window took a seat at the small table where a small doll sat. The doll was one that Jose had surprised her with after a recent mission that had gone extremely well. She had never thought of having a doll, but because it was from Jose, it seemed to be just the right reward from the tall man, and it had become one of her most important things she owned.

The brown haired girl picked it up and eyed the doll for long minutes, noting the delicate fine features and the frilly rose colored dress it had on. She particularly stared at the doll's hair, which was exactly the color of her own. Jose said that was why he choose it for her.

Touching the dolls hair, then stroking her own short locks of brown, she seemed to give a small smile to the toy as she lovingly began to smooth the dress a little. She put down the doll back on the table top, and just simply sat there in the dead silence, her eyes never leaving the toy for a moment.

Rico came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, a thick white towel wrapped around her small frame. She did not really look at Henrietta, and just moved to where her bed was. She layed down on the bed, and covered up a little with the sheet, seemingly not wanting to speak any. The brown haired girl was use to her roommate being like this once in a while, and she just let Rico be.

Henrietta just took one last look at the doll, then went in to have that shower she had thought of earlier. The feeling of something that was just not right was still rattling around on the fringes of her thoughts, but she past it off again as she went in to clean herself up from the stickiness of the day.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five -A monster lurks.**

Rome was literally roasting under the power of the Mediterranean sun. The heat was impressive, even for Rome's standards, as the mercury rose over 30c at the break of the morning time. Even the light breeze that was wafting through the city, could not bring any sort of relief for the baking citizens, for it was also hot and carried no hint of coolness to it.

In a fairly average part of the city, kids were going off to school as the sun blazed away overhead. Clumps of children all headed to their destination, laughing and playing in the care free way that only children did.

Some were playing a game that almost resembled tag, only it seemed more disorganized than regular tag usually did, even for children, as it had became a contact sport. A group of boys were farther down the Alley, bouncing a soccer ball among the four or five of them with surprising skills for their young ages. Other groups of children seemed to be just content to run headlong, their screaming and laughter echoing off of the buildings.

In amongst all of the running children, two young girls stood out as being rather different. They simply were walking together down the back alley, taking the short cut that most of the other children had chosen to. They seemed to just be content with talking intimately between themselves, choosing not to be racing around and being overly rambunctious like the others that streaked passed them from time to time.

The two lasses were dressed in school uniforms, and carried a black leather book satchel in hand. They both were dressed in the short grey skirts with plain white starched shirts. The outfit also had a thin grey kerchief tied around their necks and tied with a light turquoise ring. The outfit clearly designated the two as going to the same place of education, the main reason probably why they were accompanying one another

A black car followed them. It was a very large car, one that looked out of place in the tight confines of the alley. It seemed to be shadowing the two girls, as if watching them go along to school. The heavy tinted windows gave no indication of who these people were, as they were completely hidden from the world.

The two walked slowly, meandering though the brick lain corridor, not even aware of the ominous car that followed them at that moment. They seemed to be very content to just keeping their conversation going as they went along their way, seemingly ignoring everything around them.

Soon, only the two girls seemed to be in the alley. All the other children were in front of them by a few streets, as the large bell in the steeple of the local school rang out with its long and deep resonating tone to flair out across the city. The tone peeled through the streets, heralding the school was now coming into session.

The girls gasped, and seemed to hurry themselves as one, as the bell chimes seemed to snap them out of their intense conversation. With their legs moving faster than they had been, they hurried down the brick roadway, their patent leather shoes clacking loudly as they raced to their school.

The car suddenly sped up and shot past the two girls, screeching to a stop right in front of the surprised twosome as it blocked their way. The girls stopped and backed up, not understanding why the car had blocked them.

Two large men dressed in white linen suits jumped out of the car, and scooped up both girls, as if it had been practiced. Before the girls had even time to scream, both men put a small scrap of cloth over the girl's mouths and held them their as the young ones squirmed in their clutches.

The girls kicked and tried to scream for all they were worth, but the men were way too large and strong to, their legs just flailing away in the air. The men kept the pieces of cloths tightly over the each of the young one's mouths as they wriggled trying to free themselves from harms way.

Not one person was in the alley to see this all transpiring, or to even be around to help the two young girls. The only witnesses to this, was the sun in the cloudless sky and the morning time breezes.

After struggling for what seemed to be minutes, both girls suddenly slowed then went limp in their captor's arms. Heads lolled forward and their arms and legs simply dangling down like a ragdolls limbs. The men bore the seemingly unconscious girls into the car with expert perfection, doing it all in a blink of an eye.

As the doors slammed closed on the dark sedan, the vehicle quickly sped off and was gone in a heart beat, the men and the girls speeding off. The car was quickly gone from the area, as if whoever was driving the car was well versed in driving through the tightness of Rome's myriad of roads and back ways.

Just like that, the alleyway was left silent and still, as if the two young girls had never even existed on this earth. The breeze began to waft the dust and dirt around, adding to the total stillness of the place.

In the middle of the alleyway, two tall men appeared from seemingly out of nowhere. They stood there, looking in the same direction that the car had sped off into, yet made no moves to stop the kidnaping of the kids. All they did was stared down the vacant alley, as if watching to see if the car was really gone.

The men looked at one another and exchanged glances, then gave each other a simple nod of the head, yet neither one said not even one word. As if a mirrored images of one another, the men turned and walked off.

As quickly as the two strange men had appeared, the two vanished into the half shadows of a connecting walkway just adjacent to what looked like to be a still closed café. The main alleyway fell back to the silence.

The only moving thing that was left, was a small mottled black and white dog that was busy sniffing around a small bin of garbage that the someone had set out from the café. It rooted something out of the overflow that was on the ground, and took off running with is prize as fast as its little legs could carry it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six - All gone wrong**

Groggy, both young girl opened their eyes, and found themselves in a strange place. Each girl fought the cloudy feelings in their heads, trying to clear fogged minds.

The place was one large open space, no walls or anything were seen except for the ones that held the roof up. The smell was one of staleness along with dust, telling of the places recent un-use. The one girl, a brown tousled haired girl looked around, as her mind began to fully clear itself.

She spotted that there was oddly, a bed set off in a corner. Furniture that was around the bed gave the illusion of a little girl's bedroom being there. Camera equipment and large lights were set up all around it, all of it pointing to the fake room.

The young girl was not too sure of why the cameras and lights were there, but she felt a cold chill deep inside her. What ever it was there for, was not good.

Finely with her mind cleared fully, the lass looked over to the side of her, and saw her friend laying there, blinking wildly to also become more coherent. The brown haired girl noticed that her friend had her hands tied up behind her and her clothing were gone. Her friend was completely naked. Looking down at herself, she realized that she too was naked and bound.

Neither of the girls spoke, almost communicating through the looks they gave one another. Stoically, the looked around the place they found themselves in, eyes seemingly noting everything. They seemed to be trying to free themselves, testing the binds that held their hands behind their backs.

Voices now came to them from somewhere near. The girls stopped their struggles against their ties, as the looked for the origins of the many voices.

About eight men were in the room, each was either holding or had on them, a high powered pistol. They could hear more voices elsewhere, but could not locate the other people that were talking, as the echo in the building was deep and hollow.

The group they could see were all standing around as a group, a scared young girl of perhaps eight was nearby, chained to a some type of large metal object. The girl was shivering, her own nude body bathed in sweat as she shook with eyes wide and wild with fear. Purplish marks dotted her fair skin, telling a horrific tale that should never should be told, or ever even done.

One larger man was dressed more opulently than any of the others that were there. With thick rings on very wide fingers, he just seemed to be the leader. He stared down at the naked girl, a perverse type of smirk painted on his partially unshaven face.

" She is a beauty all right." He commented in a husky voice, reaching down and touching the scared child between her legs. The girl shrieked, but could not back away as she was shackled tightly. " Might get fifty thousand Lira for her alone."

" She's great, boss." Said one of the surrounding men, with a chuckle that seemed cold.

The two girls off to the side watched as the main man suddenly kicked the girl hard with a foot, causing the girl to double over and gasp. The men all laughed at the action, while the girl writhed in pain, whimpering like a beaten dog.

" With the other two we have now, they all will fetch such a great price." He cackled. " First we have to teach them just how to act."

The group broke out in to laughter, as one of the men unhooked the chained girl and dragged her off by the self same links that held her. The girl just continued to whimper softly, as the man went across the great expanse of the place, and disappeared through a door at the far end. He did so, dragging the crying form behind him with the same chains that still bound the girl.

The remaining men turned to look back at the two new catches, their faces flushed with their repugnant success. As one huge mass, the men walked over to where the two laid, they all still were chuckling with malicious glee

To their shock, the girls were staring right at them, not a single look of any emotions were on their faces. The man seemed a little unsettled at their captive's lack of fear, as they surrounded them.

The main man watched the two girls as the all neared, a look of bafflement on his face. He stared at the girls one after another, and could see the girls were only staring right at him blankly, showing no outward signs of fear.

" They are so scared already, they are not even shaking." He said to explain it away, then a large smile of evil intent flashed. " We will just have to show them who is boss then."

Suddenly, a loud sound like a siren came peeling out of the air, and seemed to be coming from outside the building.

" What the fuck is that?" The head man asked, while the men around him looked around.

The two girls that they surrounded suddenly began to move. There was a sound of metal snapping, and the girls were suddenly free and on their feet quickly. The men seemed to be frozen to the spot by their captives suddenly loosed from their bonds, their weapons only half heartedly readied.

With the element of surprise with them, the two girls leaped up, and fearlessly began to attack head on.

The tousled haired girl jumped at the first man that was nearest to her, a look of stoic determination flashed on to her cherub face. She grabbed the man around the neck in a headlock maneuver as she pulled him down with her falling weight. A second later a sickening snap was heard. The man fell limply as the girl grabbed the gun he had. Without a moment of hesitation, she put a bullet in his skull before his body could fully hit the ground.

The other captive girl had knocked another man down with a vicious kick to the gut, and also was quickly in possession of the weapon. She fired a shot into the surprised man's chest, and his shirt suddenly was red with blood. She whirled around and fired on another shot, while the main door to whatever this building was, blasted off of it's hinges and people with rifles came charging in shooting away.

The naked brown haired girl went to one knee, and fired two shots off, hitting Mr. Big Rings squarely between the eyes with both, as he pointed his own gun at her. The man's body twirled once in place, the crashed to the cement floor and was still. She rolled out of the way of a few shots from another man, and came up blasting another few shots off..

The girl looked over as a long blond haired girl with pigtails and wearing a dark suit appeared and was firing off a large caliber rifle, taking out two more men with deadly accuracy. The girl sunk to one knee and fired another blast, the rifle blowing another man's head cleanly off his shoulders.

In horror, the small framed naked girl suddenly saw one of the men behind the blonde girl go down, as three of the bad men that had not been there before, came from the far doorway with guns blazing.

The unclothed girl's face became ashen white, and she found herself yelling out.

" Jose-san!" She cried out, realizing that it was him.

The handler had gone down, hit by a bullet somewhere on the body. He layed on the dusty concrete floor very still, not one hint of movement was evident. The tousled haired girl leaped up and started to fire wildly at the three men, somehow getting a second pistol in her other hand, as she screamed at the top of her lungs. She killed two of them, but she saw a movement coming from her right, and whirled to meet the threat.

A sharp pain ripped through her side, and she was knocked to one knee. She looked down and saw her bare side was bloodied by a gunshot she took to the ribs. She ignored the wound and turned then fired one of the guns she had with pinpoint perfection. The man that had shot her fell backward, a large hole where his left eyebrow should have been. His blood splattered everywhere, as he hit the ground, dead before even that.

Suddenly, the shooting stopped as quickly as it had broken out. The men that had captured both Henrietta and Rico were all dead, their shot up corpses strewn all around the place. Blood colored the drab grey cement floors red and blackening maroon, broken up by the goldish gleam of spent shell casings that littered everywhere. The carnage was complete.

Men in bullet proof vests raced to the far open door, where the three man had suddenly appeared at, and raced into the opening. Through the now silence, everyone could hear young children yelling from below.

Triela moved to where the two naked girls were , wanting to check on them. Henrietta raced passed her instead, making as beeline straight to where her handler had fallen after being shot.

She found Jean tending to his brother, holding his own coat over the wound that seemed to be in the upper chest.

" Is he dead?" Asked the girl, dropping to her knees beside Jose as she tossed the pistols away.

" We will have to take him to the hospital...It is not good." Jean said, looking over at the girl. He gasped as he realized the bloodied and naked girl was Henrietta. " You need some medical attention too."

Henrietta looked down, and her whole side from ribs past her hip, was painted red. She suddenly felt a little woozy, as people swarmed around her and the fallen Jose.

She tried to keep herself conscious, as she could feel herself getting weaker by the moment.

" I am sorry, Jose..." She said, looking at her fallen instructor. " I did not protect you like I was suppose to..."

She felt herself starting to fall forward, and she tried to stop herself. She could not move both of her arms any right then, and she just pitched forward and fell on top of her handler's still body. She tried to speak, to say anything at all, but blackness overtook her.

Hilshire came over, Rico sticking close to his side. He looked at the downed girl, then at the man that was under the small form.

" Let just get them help here..." He said. " This looks bad."

Jean just nodded, knowing the man was right. Paramedics that usually accompanied them usually, pushed both men aside, and began to tend the wounded.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven - Wait**

Henrietta lay in her hospital bed, as Dr. Bianchi tended to her wounds. She had just came to, and now found herself laying there, still naked from the battle, as the man treated to her injured body.

The doctor looked right at the girl, seeing that she had awakened.

" This is a bad wound you got there..." He said, looking at the girl. " You took a good gun blast to the ribs here, yet they are not broken but cracked pretty good."

" Jose-san... Is he alright?" She said, as she was too week to sit up right then.

The man had a comforting expression on his face.

" He is in surgery right now, Henrietta..." The man explained. " All I can tell you is that he is hurt badly."

" Badly?" Echoed the girl, turning her head.

" One of the other Doctors are working on him, while I repair you." He explained better, seeing the girl was worried a little " He is in good hands, that I can promise you that much."

The girl suddenly tried to sit up, getting herself half up with one straining try. She could feel the heaviness in her body trying to stop her from getting up, but all she wanted to do was to get to Jose. Despite her injuries, something inside of her drove her to move.

The firm yet gentle hand of the Doctor stopped her from sitting up fully, and began to direct her back on to the bed.

" You have been hurt bad yourself." Warned the Doctor, pushing the girl back down with relative ease. " There is nothing you can do for him right now, other than let the other Doctor do his thing." He got the girl back down, and covered her up with a blanket. " You need some rest too. Your side was damaged, but thank goodness it was not nearly as bad as I had anticipated it to be."

" But I..." Henrietta stammered, her whole body wanting to get to Jose, but her weakened state made that almost impossible.

The doctor gave a small smile.

" I know you want to be near your Instructor..." He said, remembering that the Fratellos were normally very overly protective of their Handlers. " He will be in surgery for awhile more.. After that, I will take you to see him later... but only if you get some serious rest."

Unable to move, and feeling a little more relived at hearing the Doctor's confidence, she nodded. He tucked her into the bed, after taking one last look at her bandaged side. He finished tucking the girl up after that.

" Sleep, little Fratello... your body need time to regenerate and get stronger." He suggested, poking a small syringe into her IV tube that hung over Henrietta. " These painkillers will help your with any pain your experiencing, and hopefully they also will help you get some sleep too."

" Please... make sure that Jose-san is alright for me?" She asked softly.

" I promise that I will..." Smiled the medical man. " Just got to sleep there, Henrietta."

The girl nodded that she understood the Doctor, but she was becoming more aware that her body slipping into sleep, even as the Doctor had suggested that she rested. The drugs were taking full effect, and very quickly too. She just let her self slip away into sleep, not being able to keep her eyes open any more.

Doctor Bianchi left the room, as he noticed the girl had slipped into a deep sleep almost instantly. He did not pause, and hustled his way out of the room.

Outside Henrietta's room, the Head man of the 2nd Division was waiting for the Doctor.

" Is she going to be better soon?" He asked.

" The gunshot did not fracture anything, but left a couple of cracked ribs that have shown up on the x-rays, and there was some synthetic muscle damage at the point of the bullet's entry. Happily I have to report, it is not as serious as I had thought." The Physician said. " Other than that, I expect she will recover rather rapidly."

The Head man nodded.

" That is good to hear, she is one of our best Fratellos." He commented with an flattened voice. " Now, About Jose? What is his status?"

The doctor looked a little more grim with the question that he was asked.

" It is bad, Sir..." He said. " He had a direct gunshot to the upper chest on the right. His lung collapsed and he had a large blood loss accompanying it." The Doctor laid out. " If he only had a artificial body like Henrietta's... it would have been better for him."

" But is he going to pull through?" The head man said louder, irritated with the long winded Doctor..

Doctor Bianchi looked right at the man, knowing that he was not telling the man straight forward enough.

" It is touch and go right at this time, sir." He admitted with a nodding of his head. " He should pull through it though, but I don't want to make that an absolute assurance, until he is out of surgery."

The head man just rubbed his chin, seemingly thinking on the man's diagnosis.

" Keep me posted on both of their conditions..." He said, adding with firmness. " I expect to be notified promptly, and your report to be on my desk tomorrow."

" Yes, Sir." Saluted the Doctor.

The head man walked off, and out of the small waiting room that had the one-way glass to look in on the now sleeping girl. The Doctor just turned to look at his little patient through the window. He stood for the longest time, watching the sleeping form.

At that exact moment, in one of the dorm room, Rico layed in her bed staring upwards, unable to sleep.

She looked over in the darkness, at the empty bed that was Henrietta's. She was not really close to the girl, yet the room seemed actually very empty without her there. She sat up and took a longer look at the bed.

The door to the room opened and Triela walked in, dressed in a long dark grey nightgown that covered her from neck to ankles. She looked right at the girl in the bed.

" Your awake?" She asked.

" Can't sleep." Replied the small girl.

" Any news about Henrietta?" Triela asked.

Rico looked at the girl that stood there in the darkness of the room, actually surprised that Triela was showing any concern towards Henrietta. The girl in the bed sat up completely in the bed to look directly at the blonde girl

" Jean-san said that she was being treated, and should recover quick." Answered the girl.

" And what about Henrietta's Jose-san?" Asked the girl, showing more concern once more.

The girl shook her head, as the blonde girl stood in the doorway.

" No... Jean-san never said." She replied, still finding it odd that the girl was actually asking things like this.

Triela just stood there for a moment, silently draped in the gloom. She then nodded her head to show she had heard Rico. She turned and left the room quickly, closing the door behind herself as she exited.

Rico just layed back again in her bed, and took one more long look at the empty bed in the room. She just snuffed, wondering about herself worrying like this about her roommate. She just rolled over and pulled the covers around herself, just wanting sleep to come.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 - A sentry**

Jose's surgery over, the medical staff put him in a room that was beside his Fratello's recuperating area. He had not regained consciousness yet, having an operation to his chest to expand a collapsed lung, but the Doctor was telling even the Section heads that he was more than optimistic about the man's recovery.

Over the next two days, one tiny figure sat at his bedside, never moving or even fidgeting as it sat. Even through many examinations by the doctors, the petite figure never once made an attempt to leave.

Henrietta was the figure that sat there silently at Jose's bedside. She sat, refusing to even get dressed from the time that she had been brought in for medical help, still being naked except for her heavy bandaging around her ribs. She had slept the first day, but when she finally awoke, she made them take her to him, her need to be right there was the force behind it.

Since then, Young Henrietta just sat in the hard backed chair in stone silence, not even breaking away to eat some of the food the nurses brought her. The naked girl just watched over the man, her gaze never once wavering from his prone body.

The young girl watched each of the man breaths, listened to the constant and rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor. She sighed a little once in a while, but moved not single muscle.

Dr. Bianchi came in, and stood there, looking at the naked little Fratello sitting her silent vigil at Jose's side. He was worried about the little one, as she had not slept or eaten in almost forty eight hours. He knew that she needed to heal, but the bond between instructor and Fratello had been deeply entrenched in each one. That was usually good, but under these circumstances, it was a big hindrance.

The white coated man walked over to the bed, eyes on the small one.

" You should go get some rest you know." He commented, hands in his white lab coat.

" Jose-san? Is he better yet?" Henrietta said, seemingly ignoring the Doctors suggestion.

" His body needs to rest, so his body has helped him by putting his mind in a coma state..." The doctor said. " You to have to get some very serious sleep, as I have said."

The naked girl looked at the man, and shook her head hard.

" I can't." She said flatly, looking up at the tall Doctor. " I need to be with Jose-san."

" You wont heal well, if you don't." The man said, putting a little more emphasis in his words.

" I cannot leave Jose-san." She restated. " I just can't."

The man turned more to face the tiny girl.

" I assure you, he will get better.." Said Dr. Bianchi, trying a new tact while trying to get what he was saying across. " You need to get well too, so you can go out on Missions again... the only way you can do that, is if you sleep and eat."

" I can't!" The girl said flatly.

The doctor was getting frustrated, thinking that the higher ups would see this as his fault.

" Listen, you need to..."

" Henrietta!" Said another voice sternly, yet with a air of weakness in it.

Doctor Bianchi and Henrietta both turned their heads, as the voice came from nearby.

Jose layed there, propping himself up on one arm unsteadily. He looked at the doctor and the girl.

" Are you giving grief to the Doctor here?" He asked.

Henrietta stood up in a flash, and stood perfectly at attention, not even covering her bared body up.

" No, Jose-san" She said in reply. " I only needed to stay with you."

" But your hurt also." The man in the bed said, eyeing the heavy bandages wrapped around Henrietta's naked body. " You need to be resting, so you can get well."

" But I did not back at the last mission, and you were hurt because I was too slow to stop those men.." She said, her eyes flashing with emotions that were normally not there. " I failed to protect you."

The man smiled, as he found out why she had sat with him like this.

" You did your best, and it just went down that way." He said, giving a warm smile of assurance. " The doctor told you to go get some rest and eat... I give you the order to do just that."

" But I need to be near you, Jose-san." She said, lowering her head with the man's words.

" I will get better with sleep... you need to do the same for me." Jose said, making sure that his words were being heard. " Go and sleep."

The Doctor stepped forward, seemingly quite happy that his patient was awake.

" Perhaps I could give a suggestion to help you both get well."

Jose and his Fratello looked at the man with questions flashing in their eyes. The man smiled, seemingly pleased withe what he was about to say.

" Why don't I put her bed in here with you, Jose?" He layed out. " That way she can just look over and see you, and that may help ease her enough for her to get to sleep?"

Nodding at the Doctor, the two agreed to this compromise that Dr. Bianchi had came up with. The doctor chuckled and nodded, then left the room, seemingly quite happy with himself at that moment.

Jose looked at his young charge.

" If he does this, will you obey me and rest?" Asked Jose, staring right into the girl bright brown eyes.

" Yes!" Said the naked girl, breaking a small smile.

Half a hour later, Jose layed in his bed, looking over at the girl in the bed beside him. The doctor had set up the bed so the sides of them touched, to be perfectly side by side. The girl seemed satisfied with the arrangement, and was not as stubborn as she had been with him in a sort of coma.

Henrietta had happily put on a nightgown they brought her, ate a little something and crawled into bed. True to her word, and partially due to her complete exhaustion from being up for over two days, the girl was asleep in just a short amount of time.

Jose looked at the sleeping Fratello, watching her sleep with almost a fatherly gaze. He smiled as she listened to her light snoring, and was relived to see that she was asleep.

He layed back himself and closed his eyes. He felt good that she was finally sleeping, but he knew that this mission was far from over.

He already knew that if she healed fast, they would be instructed to go against the other Republicans who were still in this deal of debauchery. He looked forward to seeing that unfold, as the sight of Henrietta naked when he broke into the building with the men with guns right there, still haunted him.

He just took one more look at the girl and closed his eyes, knowing that he needed the rest also.


End file.
